PASADENA – UCLA safety Tevin McDonald walked over to good friend Dietrich Riley and offered a few words of encouragement.

It was the least he felt he could do as Riley lay motionless on a stretcher after suffering a neck injury that stopped the game for several minutes in the fourth quarter.

Before McDonald walked away, Riley, just starting to move his extremities, looked directly at McDonald and told him, "Go make a play."

McDonald did, five plays later, intercepting Cal quarterback Zach Maynard for the third time. That was most McDonald could do.

The UCLA offense turned all three miscues into points for a 31-14 victory against Cal at the Rose Bowl on Saturday.

"That's my guy," McDonald said of Riley. "We just felt like the game was on us. We had to get turnovers, we had to play with aggression, we had to play smart."

The defense did so more than it had all season. The Bruins held Cal to 333 yards of offense, collecting three sacks and five turnovers. Just as big was holding Cal to 2 of 12 on third downs. UCLA came into Saturday's game ranked No. 118 nationally on third down, allowing opponents to convert 55.9 percent of its attempts.

"We just made a huge emphasis, more than ever," defensive coordinator Joe Tresey said. "Whatever we had to do. Third down is a thorn right now, and it was a priority, and our kids bought into it."

UCLA's defensive players weren't the only ones to buy into the coaching staff's plans. Coach Rick Neuheisel and offensive coordinator demanded that quarterback Kevin Prince be aggressive running the ball, the two coaches seeing an opportunity for the quarterback in their Pistol offense to exploit a formidable Cal front seven after reviewing film of Nevada's victory against Cal from 2010.

"I told Kevin before the game, you can not run to get hurt tonight," said Neuheisel, who said he noticed Prince running tentatively the past two games since replacing injured starter Richard Brehaut. "I told him I wanted 100 yards."

Prince obliged, rushing 19 times for a career-high 163 yards. It was the first time a UCLA quarterback topped 100 yards in 35 years and the most yards since John Sciarra had 178 against Tennessee in 1974. Prince's production was the combination of stellar run blocking and Prince's decision-making. The redshirt junior who has missed 10 career starts to injury continued to take on several defenders, often choosing to lower his shoulders than to slide or get out of bounds.

"As the game went on you could see him gain confidence from that," Johnson said. "He wasn't as tentative as he was early. When you run our running game there's a lot of decision-making involved. He did a good job tonight making the right reads."

Down four receivers to suspensions, UCLA still tried to throw the ball early on but quickly turned to its running game because of a lack of pass protection. That was a good read by Johnson. The Bruins rushed for a season-best 294 rushing yards, their most since topping 400 against Washington State last year.

It was a gut-check victory for the Bruins (4-4, 3-2 Pac-12), who were coming off one of the worst defeats in school history against Arizona last week on a Thursday night. Afterward they said having two extra days off helped them mentally and emotionally recover from the national TV embarrassment that included a benches-clearing brawl and 10 players suspended.

"We had no choice but to fight," Johnson said. "When you get beat like we did last week, if you have any pride about yourself, you're going to come back the following week. Now we need some consistency. If you can do it once, you can do it again."

UCLA has achieved the latter, improving to 4-0 after losses this season. But it has alternated from loss to win each game this season, seemingly increasing the temperature on its coach's hot seat.

Despite its Jekyll-and-Hyde personality, UCLA will enter next week's home date with Arizona State just two victories from bowl eligibility with four to play and just one game behind the Sun Devils for first place in the South Division.

"Tonight was our night," Neuheisel said. "It's a great story of what can be if you block out some of the distractions and come together and fight. It was emotional for our guys to respond to the criticisms the way they did."

Related Links

UCLA running back Johnathan Franklin (23) celebrates in the endzone with teammates after scoring his second touchdown of the game against Cal. PAUL RODRIGUEZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
UCLA running back Johnathan Franklin (23) takes a long stride into the endzone to score UCLA's first touchdown of the game against Cal Saturday. PAUL RODRIGUEZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
UCLA cornerback Andrew Abbott (26) is congratulated by teammates after he brought down Cal running back Brendan Bigelow (5) in the second quarter Saturday. PAUL RODRIGUEZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
UCLA quarterback Kevin Prince (4) gains some big yardage against Cal on a keeper in the second quarter of Saturday's game. PAUL RODRIGUEZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A jubilant UCLA defensive tackle Donovan Carter (90) runs toward the sideline after recovering a Cal fumble in the second quarter of Saturday's game. PAUL RODRIGUEZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
UCLA safety Tevin McDonald intercepts a pass intended for Cal wide receiver Keenan Allen (21) in the fourth quarter as safety Dalton Hilliard (19) watches. The play set up another UCLA touchdown drive. PAUL RODRIGUEZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
UCLA safety Tevin McDonald, second from right, celebrates with teammates after picking off a pass for an interception in the 4th quarter to set up another UCLA scoring drive. PAUL RODRIGUEZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A jubilant UCLA safety Tevin McDonald (7) is congratulated by teammate Joseph Fauria (8) after McDonald intercepted a Cal pass in the fourth quarter. PAUL RODRIGUEZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
UCLA quarterback Kevin Prince (4) is brought down by Cal linebacker Mychal Kendricks (30) but not before making a big yardage gain in the fourth quarter. PAUL RODRIGUEZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
UCLA running back Derrick Coleman finds a big hole and sprints toward the goal line to score a touchdown in the fourth quarter to nail down the game against Cal. PAUL RODRIGUEZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
UCLA cornerback Aaron Hester (21) steps in front of Cal wide receiver Marvin Jones (1) to intercept a pass in the fourth quarter to give the Bruins possession with a few minutes left in the game. PAUL RODRIGUEZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Cal quarterback Zach Maynard (15) is brought down on a quarterback keeper by UCLA defensive end Datone Jones (56) in the fourth quarter. PAUL RODRIGUEZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
UCLA safety Dietrich Riley gives the number 1 sign as he is transported by paramedics after being injured on a play Saturday in the fourth quarter. PAUL RODRIGUEZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel keeps an eye on a play in the second quarter against Cal. UCLA beat Cal 31-14. PAUL RODRIGUEZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Cal running back Brendan Bigelow (5) is brought down before he can break loose by UCLA cornerback Andrew Abbott (26) in the second quarter. PAUL RODRIGUEZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
UCLA fans scream for the attention of Bruin players as they exit the field after they beat Cal 31-14 Saturday. PAUL RODRIGUEZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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